⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊✩ credentials ✩₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆

A.A. Political Science, West Valley College, 2016
B.A. Political Science, University of Southern California, 2018
M.A. Human Rights Studies, Columbia University, 2020
200hr RYT, Yoga Alliance, Shala Yoga, 2023
100hr Meridian Yoga Therapy, Science of Self, 2024

⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊ ꕤ bio ꕤ ₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆

I grew up in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, on Ohlone land. Like many of my generation, I was raised with heightened awareness of global suffering and climate doom, which formed in me a natural desire to focus on alleviating suffering and enjoying our earth, in all its temporality. Curious about the human condition, I spent two years working with human cadavers in my community college anatomy lab, and spent another few years as a research associate, focusing on internally displaced communities in Ethiopia and India due to illegal commercial land grabs, and Syrian refugee resettlement in 2015.

I left California for New York and began working in education support for unhoused children. I completed a masters degree with a concentration on genocides of indigenous people and the ways in which world governance upholds systems of oppression and fails those they claim to protect. From my studies and community work, I learned two important lessons -

1. Liberation will not come through the same systems that uphold the oppression of people around the world. The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house (Audre Lorde).

2. Liberation is rooted in community. It is transcendental and collective, and inexplicably tied to queerness and gender expansiveness, and racial justice. The truth is, no one of us can be free until everybody is free (Maya Angelou).

I came to embrace my place within my community through yoga, supporting those around me to find inner peace, stability, and healing among the chaos and pain in this world. Yoga is an ancient practice, healing modality, and pathway for living. In its purest form (free of Western projections), yoga is inherently revolutionary: by healing ourselves, we can better support those around us. By quieting the fluctuations of the mind to find spaciousness within ourselves, we become better able to hold space for others—embracing all that is ‘good’ and ‘bad’, holding space for joy and suffering, equally. For liberation to truly occur from the ground-up, we must focus our attentions towards empowering those around us, de-centering the institution and encouraging organic and honest growth, connection, and community care.

Mahayana Buddhism teaches us that we practice for the benefit of all beings. While liberation is collective, I believe that a seed to this liberation exists within each individual. While it is the responsibility of the individual to nurture this seed in themself, it is also the responsibility of the community to support one another in our journeys. When we live life with balance, compassion, and good intention, we are empowered to cultivate harmony and care in the ways we relate to one another, and to the natural world. I hope that these practices empower my community to find peace and love in all aspects of our lives. For more on yoga, see here (◠‿◠ ✿) Yoga class schedule here ~ ♡